My Month in Books: November and December 2024

The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Tales by H.P. Lovecraft

It says a lot about me that I was thrilled to receive this as a birthday gift and even more about my husband (and how well he knows me) that he got it for me. Lovecraft is an acquired taste but one that I definitely have. A pioneer of the horror genre, this compendium of short stories and novellas is a great introduction to his creepy extended universe of eldritch beings that lurk beneath the surface of the world as we know it. While the stories could get a bit repetitive (there are only so many ways that an unsuspecting academic can stumble upon brain-melting horrors beyond his wildest imaginings), there were still some real highlights in this collection that sent shivers down my spine. I particularly enjoyed The Whisperer in the Darkness, The Thing on the Doorstep and most of all, The Shadow Over Innsmouth. These all tend more towards the ‘creepy cults/aliens/wizards who live among us’ branch of Lovecraft’s work and I tend to find these significantly spookier than the ‘very very long description of hidden civilisation of eldritch beings without a tremendous amount of plot mixed in’ branch (looking at you At The Mountains of Madness and The Nameless City). One benefit to reading all of these stories back to back however is that it becomes easier to see the connections between them and understand the wider world that Lovecraft is constructing but I would still say that this is probably a collection you’ll enjoy more if you dip in and out of it. The novelty preserves a bit more of that Lovecraftian weirdness I find so compelling and helps to prevent the preponderance of flying tentacle monsters becoming passé.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

I’m not normally the kind of person who reads a series back to back. Particularly when I find something I really enjoy, I like to take my time, savouring each book and relishing the series so it doesn’t end too quickly. However, it was rapidly becoming clear that such levels of self-control were not going to be possible with The Stormlight Archive. By the time I finally cracked and started Words of Radiance, the second book in the series, I was practically shaking from withdrawal and needed recharging like a dun sphere in a long drought between highstorms. Imagine my delight when the sequel not only lived up to the promise of the first book, but builds on all that made it great and surpasses it. After falling in love with Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan and Adolin in the previous book, it was so incredibly satisfying to watch them come together (though not without some bumps along the way…) and start to become something even greater than the sum of their parts. And to be clear, those individual parts are awesome. It’s kind of amazing that after everyone having such a phenomenally epic individual arc in the first book that Sanderson keeps finding new and exciting ways for them to grow as characters and keep surprising the audience. And in amongst these beautiful and tender scenes of growth, healing and honour triumphing over chaos, you have truly some of the most absolutely fucking rad fight scenes I have ever read. I will never be over the duel. I was literally in bed yelling at the pages. I can only assume that this is how normal people feel watching sports. And the plot itself just grows richer and more complex and thornier to the point where if I even start trying to pull all of the different threads together into a summary I’ll basically have spoiled the whole thing. This book is truly everything and if you’re still not reading these then what are you even doing?

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

So following my previous experience of withdrawal I decided to stop screwing around and just jump straight into Oathbringer and I am so glad I did. Once again Sanderson has raised the stakes of the conflict to new and epic heights in a way that feels earned but also adds additional layers of moral complexity that has you wrestling with all of the same demons as our heroes. All of my praise from previous books can also be applied here, from the incredible character work, to the intricate plot, the phenomenal wordbuilding and the incredible battle scenes but I need to spend the rest of this review just talking about Dalinar Kholin. To take a character as beloved as Dalinar and to really break him down and show the readers the darkest side of him in such an up close and personal way is such a powerful move from Sanderson. His entire arc in Oathbringer was so beautifully done and honestly hit me in an incredibly personal way. What I love so much about this series is the way that it speaks to both my head and my heart, a complex and rewarding story that leaves me punching the air and screaming incoherently for the last 200 pages or so. I am asking once again for you to start reading this series immediately because I need to talk to people about this without spoiling it for them. Please.